1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plate-like electronic member and an electronic device, for example, an electro luminescence element or the like, and to a watch using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electronic apparatus, e.g., an electronic watch, an electronic pocket notebook or the like, having a plate-like luminescent element (hereinafter, which may be simply referred to as an "EL") such as an electro luminescence element or the like, which is incorporated therein as an electronic member, instead of a lump or the like, in order to prevent the whole apparatus case of the electronic apparatus from thickening and to enable sufficient visual recognition of information even in total darkness by illuminating various types of information, e.g., characters, signs, images and the like, which are displayed on a display panel provided at an upper position thereof, has been developed.
An EL as a conventional electronic member is formed in plate-like shape as a whole of an EL body in which a front electrode, a luminescent layer, an insulating layer and a back electrode are layered in order. The front electrode and the back electrode are layered so that they put the luminescent layer between them and make the luminescent layer emit light by supplying supplied electric power to the luminescent layer.
For that, two electrode connecting portions are connected with the electrodes to supply the electric power. A back electrode connecting portion which supplies electric power to the back electrode, among two electrode connecting portions are provided in the back surface of plate-like EL body, while a front electrode connecting portion which supplies electric power to the front electrode is provided in the front surface of plate-like EL body. The back electrode surface of the electrode connecting portions is exposed to perform the function of a connecting face.
In this case, since the back electrode connecting portion is layered on the back electrode, it is placed in the region of the EL in plan, while the front electrode connecting portion is layered on an extended portion formed by extending the front electrode outwardly. The reason for this is that since the back electrode is covered by the insulating layer, it is necessary to connect the front electrode connecting portion with the circuit board or the like at a position outside the insulating layer. As the result, the front electrode connecting portion is positioned outside the region of the EL in plan to be used for connection outside the region.
Although such a conventional plate-like electronic member, e.g., an EL or the like can carry out a predetermined operation without thickening the case of the electronic apparatus, since the front electrode connecting portion is positioned outside the electronic member, a large external shape is required, as described above. Therefore, because it is necessary to make the space for the front electrode connecting portion in the electronic apparatus and to enlarge the apparatus case for containing the electronic member, there is a problem that the electronic apparatus cannot be miniaturized.
The electronic member, e.g., the EL, the liquid crystal display panel or the like are connected with a circuit board through connecting members such as a coil, an interconnector and the like, generally. Although the connection between the electronic member and the circuit board is carried out by providing the connecting members between them, when the space between the electronic member and the circuit board is narrow, it becomes difficult to incorporate the connecting member between them and the attachment work becomes complicated. Therefore, because it is necessary to keep a space between the electronic member and the circuit board to some extent, there is a problem of difficulty of thinning the electronic apparatus.